Hello
Read more about who we are and about our story!
About River House Montessori
River House Montessori School opened its doors back in September 1994 with just two full-time employees and five pupils. The school enjoyed great success and grew to over 180 pupils, providing a safe and friendly environment for both term education and childcare during the school holidays.
What makes us unique is our fundamental principle that each child is an individual. Every child is able to learn in a manner that suits them, and age appropriate independence in learning and self-care is nurtured for even the youngest child. River House is driven by its passion, adaptability and resilience, and the overall wellbeing and learning of each child is the driving force behind our success. Staff are equipped not only with the fundamental knowledge and skills in teaching, but also the ability to empathise with pupils, parents, and their colleagues.
Located near the business district of Canary Wharf, the school also boasts an international culture with pupils representing at least 50 nationalities. The school is ideally situated to support the educational needs of the children of parents working in the nearby Canary Wharf financial centre and other local businesses.
Ultimately the success of River House Montessori School comes from our desire for pupils to grow, reach their goals and succeed in life. Our social and caring approach is what sets us apart.
The Team
Who We Are
Janet Pearson
Bursar and Acting Principal
Janet’s first meeting with Sarah Greenwood was when her daughter, then aged three, attended the pre school that Sarah was running. Learning of Sarah’s wish to found her own school, and having been so impressed with the progress her daughter had made in the short time she had been under Sarah’s tuition, Janet was keen to assist and so became a co-founder of River House Montessori in 1994. For a while Janet combined her career in the City with developing River House but, after a few years, moved to full time working at the school. Janet now heads up all administration matters for the school as well as being the joint Designated Safeguarding Lead. Her original commitment to Montessori education, strong in 1994 has been continually enhanced over the years since then.
Sarah Greenwood
Principal
Having qualified as a Montessori teacher Sarah spent part of her early career teaching at a Montessori school in America. Having seen there how Montessori education can be so successfully applied, not only in Early Years but throughout the Primary school years, she returned to England with the ambition to create a Montessori primary school here. The first step of achieving this ambition was to found River House Montessori in 1994. One of Sarah’s interests outside the school is membership of a drama club and she has used her knowledge and experience to develop children’s confidence by guiding all year groups over the years into producing and performing wonderful plays and shows. Sarah has dedicated her working life to the school ever since 1994 and has been a pivotal factor in developing and fostering the caring, child centred approach for which we are known.
Sofi Botha
Head of Additional Needs
Sofi joined River House Montessori in 2005 and her extensive knowledge and experience of additional needs matters quickly became apparent. Sofi had previously studied child development, early years teaching and child psychology while working as a therapist for children with Additional needs. Shortly after joining River House, Sofi obtained her SENCO qualification and then rapidly developed our Additional Needs Department. She is expert in analysing, and identifying possible causes for, behaviour patterns and in developing programmes to successfully support children with behaviour difficulties. At present, in addition to her other responsibilities, Sofi also holds the role of joint Designated Safeguarding Lead.
Michelle Worley
Head of Education
Michelle joined the school in 2013 and now has the role of Head of Education. Before becoming a teacher Michelle had a variety of diverse roles in the business world. She then chose to leave corporate life behind and go into teaching because it was something she had always thought about since she was a little girl! She favoured the Montessori method of teaching, rather than the traditional way, because everything about Montessori felt right and was in line with how she'd always felt was an ideal way to raise children, by putting them at the centre of it all and following their lead. She loves the special bond created in a classroom, like a family, and she teaches some lessons across the school allowing her to get to know all of the children well and bring the whole school together as an extended family!
